No Apologies

Islamic fanatics are furious because someone made an anti-Islamic video and posted it on Youtube. These same fanatics now storm our embassies, burn the American flag and chant their ever familiar anthem of "death to America." And what does our President do? Does he stand up to these savages? Does he stand up for our values? No. He apologizes. He and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, go out of their way to say how sorry they are for this video. They go on and on about how disgusting and reprehensible it is and how the American government had nothing to do with it. They even ask YouTube to consider whether or not it can be taken down for violating their terms of service. Mr. President, it's time to stop apologizing. "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam" does not cut it. It is time to stand up for our American values-in this case freedom of speech. Whether this video is insensitive and bigoted is not the issue here. The issue is that Islamic fanatics feel as though they have a right to attack our embassies and burn our flag because they don't like the content of some second-rate internet video. These people are maniacs and they need to be stood up to. America and the civilized world must stand up to barbarians who think that free speech is a reason to kill innocent people. Instead of apologizing to savages we need a President who will stand up to them and defeat them. We need a President who will never be ashamed of American values and who will never apologize for those values. Instead we have a President who is well versed in apologizing to Islamic extremists. As a matter of fact, he won't use the term "Islamic extremists" since it might offend Muslims.

There is no excuse for the violence that resulted from this video. If it's offends Muslims, so what? People are offended all the time. When urine or feces are depicted on images of Jesus, is that not offensive? But yet we don't see Christians rioting and burning things down, now do we? Radical Islam is the only religion on the face of the earth that threatens, attacks, and in some cases kills anyone who insults their religion or their prophet. They also kill people who dare to convert to another religion. Instead of dealing with the very real problem of Islamic extremism, what does our President and his liberal friends do? They apologize. They apologize early and often and profusely. Then they talk of a "war on women" in the United States when the true war on women exists in much of the Islamic world where women are often subjected to "honor killings" for the crime of being raped.

No, Mr. President, it's time to stop apologizing to terrorists and fanatics. The American people are fed up with it. It's time to stand up for our values-to stand up for those values loudly and forcefully and unequivocally. We believe in the freedom of speech. Islamic fanatics don't. We believe in the freedom of religion. Islamic fanatics don't. We believe women should be treated equally to men and not as second-class citizens. The Islamic fanatics don't. Instead of apologizing for our values we must stand up for them. And we must help and support moderate Muslims-of which there are many-to defeat the fanatics. How can we fight and defeat radical Islam when we have a President who dares not utter the words "radical Islam" or "Islamic extremism?" We need a President who will stand up for our values and will never, ever, apologize to terrorists. Barack Obama, it seems, is not up to the job.

Timothy Rosen is practicing attorney as well as an adjunct professor at Queens College of the City University of New York where he teaches courses on law and ethics.

Islamic fanatics are furious because someone made an anti-Islamic video and posted it on Youtube. These same fanatics now storm our embassies, burn the American flag and chant their ever familiar anthem of "death to America." And what does our President do? Does he stand up to these savages? Does he stand up for our values? No. He apologizes. He and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, go out of their way to say how sorry they are for this video. They go on and on about how disgusting and reprehensible it is and how the American government had nothing to do with it. They even ask YouTube to consider whether or not it can be taken down for violating their terms of service.

Mr. President, it's time to stop apologizing. "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam" does not cut it. It is time to stand up for our American values-in this case freedom of speech. Whether this video is insensitive and bigoted is not the issue here. The issue is that Islamic fanatics feel as though they have a right to attack our embassies and burn our flag because they don't like the content of some second-rate internet video. These people are maniacs and they need to be stood up to. America and the civilized world must stand up to barbarians who think that free speech is a reason to kill innocent people. Instead of apologizing to savages we need a President who will stand up to them and defeat them. We need a President who will never be ashamed of American values and who will never apologize for those values. Instead we have a President who is well versed in apologizing to Islamic extremists. As a matter of fact, he won't use the term "Islamic extremists" since it might offend Muslims.

There is no excuse for the violence that resulted from this video. If it's offends Muslims, so what? People are offended all the time. When urine or feces are depicted on images of Jesus, is that not offensive? But yet we don't see Christians rioting and burning things down, now do we? Radical Islam is the only religion on the face of the earth that threatens, attacks, and in some cases kills anyone who insults their religion or their prophet. They also kill people who dare to convert to another religion. Instead of dealing with the very real problem of Islamic extremism, what does our President and his liberal friends do? They apologize. They apologize early and often and profusely. Then they talk of a "war on women" in the United States when the true war on women exists in much of the Islamic world where women are often subjected to "honor killings" for the crime of being raped.

No, Mr. President, it's time to stop apologizing to terrorists and fanatics. The American people are fed up with it. It's time to stand up for our values-to stand up for those values loudly and forcefully and unequivocally. We believe in the freedom of speech. Islamic fanatics don't. We believe in the freedom of religion. Islamic fanatics don't. We believe women should be treated equally to men and not as second-class citizens. The Islamic fanatics don't. Instead of apologizing for our values we must stand up for them. And we must help and support moderate Muslims-of which there are many-to defeat the fanatics. How can we fight and defeat radical Islam when we have a President who dares not utter the words "radical Islam" or "Islamic extremism?" We need a President who will stand up for our values and will never, ever, apologize to terrorists. Barack Obama, it seems, is not up to the job.

Timothy Rosen is practicing attorney as well as an adjunct professor at Queens College of the City University of New York where he teaches courses on law and ethics.